JESUS OUR EXAMPLE
Wednesday – June 27, 2018, Tamuz 14, 5778
Welcome back to this wonderful and informative faith building Bible Study from the Book of Hebrews. The featured picture is of Patti and me in the summer of 2016 outside a wonderful seafood restaurant in Winslow, Maine. In fact, you can see my belly bulging from the baked haddock. My fancy girl, here and always was dressed to the T’s and dolled up to the nines. Let me interpret that for you, she was dressed really nicely with very nice complementing jewelry. Do you suppose she is dressed to the T’s and dolled up to the nines in Heaven? Now, let’s turn our attention to the Word of God and read our primary text from the Book of Hebrews aloud.
Hebrews 11:35-38 (KJV)
35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Hopefully I have over the last few days scuttled this notion of Christians suffering of poverty, sickness, torture, and so on to be the will of God. These things are accomplished by the deceptions of the enemy and our entering that deception of our own freewill not the will of God or God making us (controlling us). Notice above in verse thirty-five (35 = hope) it says that many of these things were accomplished among the saints because they would not accept deliverance thinking they would obtain a “better resurrection”. They had a hope, Bible hope is not uncertain regarding outcome, but they rejected the hope (deliverance). When hope is rejected, faith is absent. Even when these folks knew deliverance was available they rejected it due to their belief in a better resurrection. To make a long story very short, there is no such thing as a better resurrection. The old testament saints and the new testament saints have the same resurrection (all the same features absent being restored as God) as Christ. That is the whole story, the whole wonderful story! The rejection of the deliverance and the notion of a better resurrection were all deceptions of the enemy perpetrated by Church leaders.
You will notice that a lot of the things of the curse mentioned are the result of really extreme poverty and oppression of the government. Who is supposed to dominate, have authority, in the earth, God’s people or the devils people? This is not a trick question! We, the people of God, are to dominate, weld authority in the earth, in all seven pillars of society. However, over time we have abdicated that authority, retreated to the Church House, and setup a wailing and complaining campaign. How is that working out? Poverty has at no time ever been the will of God. We are to be very rich here and in the hereafter. There is not one set of rules for here and another for there. It is all the same God, all the same rules (obligations and benefits), a wonderfully good God. Another thing I want to point out and I have mentioned before is that Jesus is our example not any other Bible character. That is not to say that we cannot learn much from all of the characters discussed in Scripture but our gold standard (how to conduct our lives) is Christ Jesus. Remember the following admonition, command from Christ Himself.
John 14:12 (KJV)
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Was Jesus just puffing smoke here or did He mean this? Is this Scripture or not? Do we believe on Him? Do we believe He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him?
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Scripture tells us that Jesus always pleased the Father, so He must have believed not only that the Father was but that He was a rewarder and diligently seeked after and did the will of the Father. If Jesus could do that, according to John 14:12 we can do the same. Did the ruling religious folks of that day ever want to or attempt to kill Jesus? Sure, they did.
Luke 4:28-30 (KJV)
28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
That is our example, period! Jesus came into the earth with the primary mission of destroying the works of the devil which required that He go to the Cross and Hell which was His freewill choice for our sakes.
John 10:17-18 (KJV)
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
None of us at any time have been or will be asked to lay our lives (physical life) down for the Kingdom of God. We are asked however to deny our flesh and to be led of the Spirit for the purposes of the Kingdom. Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
2 Peter 1:2-4 (KJV)
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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